Our family started in this country in 1856 when Thomas Hopper, Jane Poad Hopper and their eleven children arrived from England.  They set up home in Morgan County, Illinois near Jacksonville where many of their descendants still reside.  It is known that John Hopper (1777-1849) and Hannah Taylor Hopper (1769-1846} were the parents of John Hopper (1808-1886).  John's (1777-1849) parents are still in doubt.  It is believed his father was a Thomas Hopper born in 1747 and who married an Ann ?.  Our cousin John Maurice Hopper Preston who currently resides in Scotland has made several trips back to Yorkshire, England trying to nail this down but so far has not been able to come up with the documents needed.  I am still hopeful that we can answer this question in the not to distant future. 

Yedmandale was the name of the Hopper family farm located near Hutton Bushel in Yorkshire, England.  It was in the family for several generations with death certificates for both John Hopper (1777-1849) and John Hopper (1812-1867) showing Yedmandale as where they died.  Ed and Doris Hopper visited Hutton Bushel in 1985 and Doris furnished information on Yedmandale and Hutton Bushel which you can see by clicking on "Yedmandale" in the left hand drop down list.  

At some point in time the Hopper family started having an annual "sheep sheering" on there farm.  The event had a practical purpose with everyone gathering to sheer the sheep for selling the wool.  In later years the family reunion continued.  Click on "Sheep Sheering" in the left hand drop down file for pictures.